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Print Edition For Journal On Internet

Slate, the Microsoft Corporation's new political and cultural magazine published on the Internet's World Wide Web, has been widely anticipated as an attempt to define a new medium.

But even as Microsoft was scrambling yesterday to meet technical problems and unexpectedly heavy demand for its new electronic journal, the company also described plans to publish it on paper as a conventional magazine.

Many established magazines and newspapers have branched out with electronic versions on the Internet, hoping to reach the World Wide Web's attractive demographic base of educated and affluent users. Microsoft is one of the first to go the other way, moving a Web publication into print. The shift puzzled some observers.

"I thought the whole idea of publishing a Web 'zine was avoiding paper and printing and distribution," said Lorne Manly, editor in chief of Folio: First Day, a newsletter that covers the publishing industry. "It begs the question, why did they go to the Internet in the first place?"

Slate, which is edited by Michael Kinsley, the former editor of The New Republic, made its debut Monday afternoon with the equivalent of nearly 30 pages of features and articles by prominent writers and journalists. And in an acknowledgment that most households do not have personal computers, and that most households with computers do not have access to the Internet's World Wide Web, Microsoft intends to publish a version of Slate on paper, appropriately called Slate on Paper.

For $29 a year, Slate on Paper will be mailed to subscribers who do not have computers or who simply prefer reading paper. An operator at the Slate on Paper telephone subscription order desk said yesterday that business was "fantastic."

While it is receiving general praise for its content, Slate is getting mixed reviews for its use of Internet technologies, including interactive discussion forums and sound clips. Many readers reported problems in gaining access, and others complained that once connected to Slate's Web site it took 30 seconds or more to flip from electronic page to electronic page.

Technical problems with new Web sites are common, of course, especially for those as ambitious as Slate. And John B. Williams, Slate's 31-year-old publisher, seemed to regard the heavy traffic as happy chaos.

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Mr. Williams said the access problems arose because he underestimated the demand for the on-line magazine, and that Microsoft moved quickly to add additional server computers to handle the load.

But it is the heavy effort to promote and distribute Slate on Paper that seemed to be raising the most questions about Microsoft's media intentions. Although people can buy annual subscriptions to the paper version, single copies of Slate on Paper will be sold exclusively at more than 700 Starbucks coffee shops in the United States. Each copy of Slate on Paper will cost $2.95, and will contain selected articles and features from the on-line version.

In still another unusual tactic, selected articles from Slate will also be published in Time magazine. Mr. Williams said both the Starbucks Corporation and Time, a unit of Time Warner Inc., approached Microsoft earlier this year to propose the deals.

"Some people have accused us of copping out," Mr. Williams said. But he added, "In terms of our efforts, we are very much focused on the on-line version and making sure that it remains the flagship product."

Mr. Williams said the decision to publish Slate on paper was intended "to introduce the magazine and brand concept to people who are potential readers of the on-line version." "Hopefully," he added, "we can convince them that the on-line product is a better experience."

Microsoft said Slate will be free to Internet users until Nov. 1, when subscribers will be charged $19.95 a year.

In its inaugural issue, the top article was a discussion entitled "Is Microsoft Evil?" Mr. Kinsley, Slate's editor, said the discussion was an "attempt to put a stake in the ground" and assert the magazine's editorial independence.

However, Mr. Kinsley said readers should not expect the magazine to emphasize issues related to computers or the Internet. "In fact, we're going to be downplaying Web issues in general," he said. "It's not what we're about."